1. Field
This invention relates to axle mounting devices for wheel barrows.
2. Prior Art
Conventional wheel barrows have wheels that are not easily removable for maintenance. Each end of the axle is attached to a rail of the barrow frame via a cup with fastening plates. For wheel removal, one of these cups must be detached with a wrench, by removing two bolts. The axle can then slip out of the other cup. When a flat tire occurs on construction sites, this time-consuming procedure, including retrieving and returning a wrench, is costly in terms of productivity.
Tool-less releasable axle mounts are used on bicycles, but such mechanisms are not adaptable to wheel barrows. Bicycle axles are mounted between two mounting plates which are attached to the ends of the front fork and the ends of the two rear seat stays. Both of these mounting sites are flexible. For stability, the plates are clamped against the bearing cones on the axle by means such as a lever-operated cam. U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,038 (Hosokawa) shows an example of quick-release type hubs for bicycles. Wheel barrows used in the construction industry have the stable frame type shown herein, in which a bicycle type quick-release for the axle is unnecessary. The axle mounting site is rigid, due to a rail stabilizing strap (40). A wheel barrow axle is a simple cylin-drical rod with no bearing cone, so a bicycle-type cam fastener
U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,313 (Filas) shows a collapsible wheel barrow, including a wheel axle retained by pins. The wheel is mounted in a fork as on a bicycle, but without a clamping fastener. Thus, this barrow is not stable enough for construction use, in which heavy loads and rough terrain are normal. U.S. Pat. No. 1,457,972 (Gilbert) shows a toy wheel barrow with an axle retained by cotter pins in a fork.